Arbitrary ecash spending conditions compacted into a zk proof. This is a *big* deal. https://x.com/dimahledba/status/1882078439693307921
Discussion
We've reached the forefront of shitcoin research now
This is way over my head... 🙂
Is this useful to prevent Mints from unchecked money-printing (I have a feeling this issue is still somewhat unresolved in ecash)?
Nope, that's a different area of research. I plan to build this as part of my ecash mining pool project after I get the core functionality working. https://gist.github.com/callebtc/ed5228d1d8cbaade0104db5d1cf63939
Repo markets on cashu + nostr
Interesting. Is there a NUT fir this?
No, just thinking about how to marry these systems together.
Ecash is basically a promissory note. With programming logic/markets it could function like the repo market (very liquid short duration lending)
Long term NGU is good (hold spot), but ppl may want a vol hedge in the short/medium term for debt obligations. nostr:nprofile1qqsdhc94p6csmay47z73rcdaze6g60fr2qtvzf8jed77vpaxxzgh2zqprdmhxue69uhkummnw3ezummjv9hxwetsd9kxctnyv4mz7qg4waehxw309aex2mrp0yhxgctdw4eju6t09uq3samnwvaz7tmjv4kxz7fwvd6hyun9de6zuenedyhsxa7u96 stablechannels is creating this programming functionality with C lightning plugins
Pair these features with a secure communications layer like nostr or #reticulum. I imagine there would be tons of arbitrage opportunities
we must accelerate!
The covenants debate is essentially an argument over the risks of enabling arbitrary spending conditions in bitcoin consensus code. It's a sticky topic because everyone feels they must have an opinion but the risks and rewards are unknown or at least poorly understood by virtually everyone.
Even once you have done the work to uncover some unknown risks and make them known, you now face the unenviable task of explaining these new concepts to hostile parties exercising motivated reasoning.
How do you achieve unanimous consent under these conditions? It's an extremely hard thing to do. Every day feels like tilting against windmills while screaming into the void.
The covenant holy grail is something like OP_ZKP. This would let you compute anything that is computable, bundle up a proof in a concise little package, and put it on the blockchain for the whole world to verify.
AFAIK nobody is even speccing this out on bitcoin. It's too far off. Everybody is working on weaker proposals that have much more constrictive guardrails. Rightfully so, we can't afford to kill the goose that lays golden eggs.
Ecash avoids this debate because you don't need distributed consensus. We can build isolated digital cash islands that are entirely self-contained and interoperable with the larger bitcoin network. No blockchain necessary.
Abdel and friends just went out and built OP_ZKP for ecash mints. This is possible because in an ecash world consensus is localized to one party. The stakes are lower so builders can just build. Now you can do your arbitrary computations on a isolated digital cash islands. Users can manage their own risk by pegging in funds to mints they trust and withdrawing savings for on-chain storage. The wider bitcoin ecosystem doesn't need to involve themselves in what this mint is doing because the risk doesn't extend beyond the mint.
This is what decentralization looks like. Welcome to the future, y'all. BULLISH 😎
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